Chapter 6

"Why did we have to wake up so early?" Momoshiro yawned once their van arrived at the cabin.

"I'm still so sleepy," Kikumaru whined as he rubbed his eyes.

Fuji stirred in the backseat from his nap as the rest of the regulars began waking up in the van. He opened his eyes, noticing that his head was lying against something firm yet warm and comfortable. He glanced up to his side and saw a pair of serious brown eyes watching him intently.

"We're here," was all the bespectacled boy said in his usual deep, monotonous tone.

Fuji smiled and lifted his head up from Tezuka's shoulder as he made out to stretch when he felt something begin to slide off his back. He immediately grabbed a hold of it and pulled it forward when he saw that it was a large, brown coat much too big for his size. Blinking curiously, he stole a glimpse at the taller boy next to him who was now looking out the window.

He smiled to himself and held the coat up to his face, taking a deep breath.

Tezuka's scent.

"Get up sleepy heads! It's time to get off the car!" Ryuzaki hollered from the driver's seat. It was finally Saturday morning, and the Seigaku tennis team had just arrived at the designated cabin up in the mountains to attend a training camp hosted by the friendly Rokkaku team.

"Kya! Not so loud," Momoshiro clenched an eye shut at the jarring voice.

"It's already 9AM! Fsssshhh!"

"So what, Viper! 9AM's still early!"

"That's because you're slacking off!"

"Oi, you want to fight or something?"

"FSSSSHHH!"

"You blockheads, I said IT'S TIME TO GET OFF THE CAR!"

Saeki watched from the front of the cabin as the Seigaku tennis team slowly made their way out of the banana colored van.

"I guess not all of them are morning people."

He turned his head at the voice of his teammate. "I guess not, Bane. But, neither are all of Rokkaku."

The two players eyed a first year yawning as he walked out of the cabin. "Are they…here…yet?" the sleepy eyed boy barely muttered.

"I guess even our freshman captain needs his beauty sleep," Bane teased.

"Freshman stays fresh by waking up fresh in the morning like a man. Heh."

BAM!

The handsome, orange-haired boy who had just walked up from behind fell flat on his face as he felt a sharp kick to his head.

"That's not funny, David," Bane muttered, annoyed.

"They're here!" the freshman captain suddenly woke up from his sleepy state as his eyes caught sight of the other school's team. He jumped up excitedly into the air, running off towards the group.

"Looks like Aoi is fully awake now," Saeki chuckled.

"Aa, it's probably because of that other freshman," Bane noted in amusement.

As the Seigaku team approached the cabin, Echizen looked up to see a boy with dark, shaved hair approach him.

"Oi, Echizen!" the boy panted as he stopped right in front of him. "Let's have a match again today. I enjoyed playing with you last time!"

Echizen tipped his hat down and secretly grimaced, remembering how their last match lasted so long that they had to continue the next morning.

"Fuji, did you sleep well?" Saeki smiled kindly at his childhood friend.

"Yes, I did," the tensai beamed back.

Saeki noticed one side of Fuji's hair sticking up.

"Fuji, your hair." He reached his hand out and smoothed the soft strands, enjoying the touch of sleek, recently washed hair against his skin. Suddenly, his sharp eyes caught a glimpse of someone's mouth twitching slightly. He casually glanced at the tall, bespectacled boy now arriving next to the tensai, all serious and quiet.

"Saeki, I think it's fine now," Fuji chuckled.

"Soka," Saeki gave a steady smile, raising an eyebrow at the silent Seigaku captain as he reluctantly removed his hand.

"C'mon you guys. I want to eat breakfast!" Momoshiro barged in-between them before pulling Echizen by the hand from the still chattering freshman captain towards the cabin.

"I want pancakes! Nya!" Kikumaru jumped up energetically, completely forgetting that he was sleepy before as he ran off along with the rest of the regulars.

A tall, dark brunette walked up to the remaining crew.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Tezuka-san. I'm Bane from the Rokkaku team."

"Aa, it's nice to meet you," Tezuka answered politely as he shook hands with the other player.

"Saeki, I need to ask you something," Bane faced his vice-captain.

"Soka. Fuji and Tezuka, you two go on ahead."

"We'll see you later," Fuji nodded at his friend, walking away with his captain.

"Saeki, Oji wanted to know if you want your racket to…" As Bane went on, Saeki watched with a pleased smile the Seigaku tensai arrive near the cabin. And then, his dark green eyes flashed as the tall, bespectacled boy's hand reached out and finger the strands of hazelnut hair Saeki had recently touched.

"Oi, Saeki, are you listening?" Bane asked, exasperated.

"Oh, gomen," Saeki smiled apologetically. His eyes darted back to the two Seigaku players now only a couple feet away from the cabin. The taller boy's hand had fallen back to his side, but the shorter boy was now glancing up at him with a beaming smile.

As Tezuka entered the cabin, he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. He didn't know exactly why, but there was something about the Rokkaku vice-captain that irked him. His calm and friendly demeanor had an edge to it that somehow alarmed him. And the way he looked at Fuji made Tezuka really uncomfortable. In fact, he sensed there was something unsettling about the Rokkaku boy since the very first day they met.

"Ne, it's really nice of Saeki and them to invite us along," Fuji smiled.

"Aa," Tezuka responded in short.

Or perhaps he was overreacting. Still, he thought it best to be on his guard. After all, one should never get careless.

"Buchou, Fuji, we're over here!" Momoshiro waved from a table where he sat with the regulars and some of the Rokkaku team members.

As Tezuka and Fuji joined them, Fuji introduced Tezuka to the rest of the Rokkaku tennis team.

"It's nice to finally meet the famous buchou of Seigaku we've heard so much about," Aoi smiled excitedly. "I enjoyed playing with Echizen last time."

"Hn, so I've heard," Tezuka nodded.

"Ne, this breakfast is really good," Kikumaru mumbled through a mouthful of the food the Rokkaku team had packed for everyone. "It's not pancakes, but it will do."

"Why do you have a band-aid on your face all the time?"

Kikumaru blinked blankly at Itsuki, the Rokkaku tennis player with an extremely large nose and a curiosity large enough to match it.

"Why is your hair red? Why are the sides of the strands always sticking up? Why are you so acrobatic?"

Kikumaru chewed his food slowly with a frown, and looked to Oishi desperately for help.

Oishi blinked at those large, nearly tearful puppy eyes staring up at him, and his heart began pounding fast as he felt himself get flustered. "Um, cough. Itsuki, perhaps you can ask Eiji later when he is done eating."

"Ne, why is the side of your head shaved? Why are you two called the Golden Pair?"

Oishi felt a teardrop fall down the side of his head as the Rokkaku player now bombarded him with needless questions.

Tezuka blinked at this scene and turned to Fuji questioningly.

"Ah, please excuse Itsuki. He is very curious about a lot of things and likes to ask questions," Fuji explained.

"Ne, why are you always smiling? Why are your eyes blue? Why is-"

"That's enough Itsuki."

Everyone turned around at Bane's commanding voice as the tall brunette approached the table with Saeki.

"Please excuse him, he needs to learn to be respectful and not pry in to other people's business," Bane apologized with a smile.

"Once you are all done, we'll show you around the cabin," Saeki announced to the Seigaku team.

After breakfast, everyone explored the large, wooden cabin, from the small eating area where they were previously at, to the nice lounge with a fireplace and two bedrooms upstairs where half of the group will be sleeping. The Seigaku tennis team then met up with Ryuzaki back in the dining area and walked to the van to unload their things before regrouping with the Rokkaku team and their eccentric old coach.

Out on the tennis courts up in the hill near the cabin, the two teams practiced their tennis skills for a couple hours before Inui stepped in and presented a new training menu.

"We'll be testing our accuracies and eyesight with our shots for this training regimen. I've collected various wooden sticks from the forest and placed them on the fence over here. The task will be to hit the ball and break only the sticks with 2-3 twigs sticking out. If you fail to break the wooden sticks or hit the wrong ones, you will have to drink this."

He held up a clear glass pitcher filled with a purplish liquid.

"W-what is that?" Takashi asked, feeling his stomach get sick already.

"This is an improvement on my previous concoction. It is called Pozu."

"And what previous concoction was it based on?" Momoshiro hesitantly asked.

"That…is a secret," Inui answered with a cunning smile.

The rest of the Rokkaku team stared in awe.

"Ne, why is it purple? Is it grape juice?" Itsuki asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's not grape juice," Saeki smiled uneasily, remembering Fuji's stories.

"This looks good," Aoi smiled, walking up to Inui. "Let me try a sip."

"NO!" The Seigaku team all reached out their hands in protest as the freshman captain drank from the cup of purplish liquid from the pitcher Inui poured him with. And then, much to everyone's dismay, they watched as the young first year's expression drastically change into something horrific before tumbling away on the ground back towards the cabin and fully collapsing, motionless, on the dirt floor.

"W-wait, I don't want to drink that!" Bane cried out.

"What the hell is in that thing?" Kisarazu, the Rokkaku boy with a cap and long hair grimaced.

"Pozu, like grape juice in a Ponta of ponzu. Heh." David felt a kick to his head from Bane's long legs.

"Nobody can understand your jokes, David," Bane criticized.

"Tezuka, don't you think it looks tasty?" Fuji smiled.

"Fuji, anything you like to drink is something to avoid," Tezuka responded simply, staring at the dangerous liquid in the pitcher.

Fuji snickered and leaned up to the tall serious boy until his lips barely brushed his ear. "But, how about if that drink came from my mouth?"

Tezuka flinched slightly before narrowing his eyes.

"Fuji," he stressed warningly.

As each player lined up for the training, Inui gave Momoshiro the ball and allowed him to start.

"This will be a cinch," the second-year grinned. He smacked the ball at the wooden stick, only to watch in horror the ball bounce right off of it. "W-wait! Why did it-"

"Momoshiro."

Momoshiro swallowed as he turned his head to find a cup of purple juice in Inui's hand held up to his face.

Next up, Kaidoh stepped up as his rival rolled on the floor in agony away from the rest of the team.

"Fssshhh, you have to hit the right spot to break it." The viper like boy smacked the ball, successfully breaking the twig.

"You're up, David," Inui smiled.

The handsome boy with fully waxed orange-red hair walked up confidently and hit the ball, cleanly breaking a twig. "Easy, heh."

"Here," Inui said, holding up a cup.

"Wait, why do I have to drink it?" David demanded.

"That stick has 1 twig."

"What, but that's ridicule-" David's eye shot wide open as he noticed that, just as the data collector said, only a single twig protruded from that now broken stick.

Tezuka sighed as he watched nearly half of his team as well as Rokkaku's dropping like flies. At one point, he tensed at the feel of someone's soft, slender finger drawing imaginary circles on the back of his left hand. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath to steady himself at the intimate touch before glancing in annoyance at the tensai who only smiled back innocently. Finally, it came his turn, and he gripped the racket he picked up from the ground and eyed the wooden stick in front of him intently.

"Ne, Tezuka, let me know how the drink tastes," Fuji grinned from behind.

Tezuka ignored the comment and narrowed his eyes in full concentration, sharpening his focus as he smacked the ball effortlessly, successfully breaking the stick with two twigs.

"As expected from the famous Seigaku captain," Saeki observed with a steady smile as he watched from the side.

Tezuka merely glanced at the Rokkaku vice-captain, sensing a strange tone in his words, before walking away.

"Fuji, you're next," Inui said.

"Ne, I really want to know what that drink tastes like," Fuji smiled.

Saeki's dark green eyes watched in anticipation as Fuji's slender fingers crinkle the racket strings. Smooth, fair legs stood firmly on the ground as skinny but toned arms move into a serve-like stance. Beautiful, oceanic blue eyes opened and stared intently at the wooden sticks in front as a hand threw the ball up gracefully into the air with perfect posture. Saeki held his breath and felt his heart stop beating for a brief moment as Fuji smacked the ball with sheer passion, cutting through the air.

Snap.

The stick immediately broke in half, flying up before landing delicately on the ground.

"That has 5 twigs," Inui smiled, holding up the cup to Fuji's face.

"Ah, I guess I saw that wrong," Fuji chuckled. He took the cup and held it to his lips, drinking the purple liquid.

"Ne, Fuji can drink anything," Kikumaru pouted. "He's immune to Inui's drinks."

Fuji swallowed the juice and let out a content sigh at the taste. And then, still smiling, slowly fell forward flat on his face.

"Fuji!" The remaining Seigaku and Rokkaku players exclaimed in utter shock as they ran to the tensai lying motionless on the ground.

"Inui, w-what was in that thing?" Kikumaru asked in disbelief, starring at the empty cup rolling away from Fuji's hand.

Inui adjusted his glasses with a smile. "As I explained earlier, it was an improvement of my previous concoction, namely, Aozu."

"AOZU!?" The whole team exclaimed in shock, remembering the blue vinegar drink from the bowling alley that was the only juice able to cause the tensai to completely black out.

"He's turning blue. He looks worse than the others. We need to take him back to the cabin," Saeki noted as he kneeled, reaching out his hands to lift the boy.

"I'll take him."

Saeki looked up as the tall, bespectacled captain gently rolled Fuji onto his back and lifted him up swiftly in his arms.

"The rest of you, continue with practice, and don't let your guard down," Tezuka ordered.

As the captain left the group with the unconscious tensai in his arms, Saeki watched the two Seigaku players disappear over the hill and down to the cabin.

"Ah, Buchou is so protective of Fuji," Kikumaru gleamed.

Saeki's expression darkened as he gazed at the acrobatic boy. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, that's a secret," the redhead winked before prancing away. "I wish Oishi was more like that. Nya!"

Saeki glanced down in deep thought.

From afar, Inui watched the Rokkaku vice-captain drop his friendly smile.